Smoke collector and condenser



Feb. 3, 1925.

F. L. M GAHAN SMOKE COLLECTOR AND CONDENSER Filed June 16 1919 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR:

ATT

Feb. 3, 1925.

F. L. M GAHAN SMOKE COLLECTOR AND CONDENSER.

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jun e 16 1919 INVENTQRI ATT NEY.

Feb-

F. L. M GAHAN SMOKE COLLECTOR AND CONDENSER N 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 16, 1919 INVENTOR.

H YV'ATTOR Y.

Feb. 3, 1925.

' F. MCGAHAN SMOKE COLLECTOR AND CONDENSER Filed June 16 1919 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR! Feb. 3, 1925.

F. L. M GAHAN SMOKE COLLECTOR AND CONDENSER Filed June 16 1919 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Feb. 3, 1925.

UNITED STATES 0 FFIC E sunshine ILVLMCGATIAN, o q eueELEs, oALIroRNIA'; VIOLA K. WALKER, ,AD-

Mmrscmerrux or sern r gspseic g L. McGAI-IAN, DECEASED, AssIoivoR to THE PURPOSED MIND DEVELOPMENT SECURITY ASSOCIATIQN OF THE WORLD, A

TRUST COMiANY.

SMOKE COLLECTOR AND CONDENSER.

Application filed il'uiie16, 1919. "Serial No. 304,450.

In the accompanying drmvlfig for-fining- 1'iartofthis specification, in which like numbers of reference denote like parts Wherever they occur, Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through the smoke collector and condenser, taken on line l-'1 in Fig 10; Fig. 21s a transverse sectional View through-the locomotive fire box, taken on line 2 2 in Fig. 11; Fig. 3 is a transverse horizontal section through the smoke collector, taken on line in Fig. 1'; Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view approximately on the line of Figure "6 illustrating part of the apparatus for disposing of c'inders and spa ks; Fig. 5 'is it detailed view of the spark firrester; Fig. 6 is a vertical sectionil vieiv of the spark disposing apparatus,- taken on line 6 6 in Fi 4; Fig. 7' is a horizontal section throu'iii the "rear part of the locomotive, taken on line in Fig. 8; Fig. 8 is a side elevatio npot the rear part of the locomotive, showing the the box in section; Fig.- 9 is a vertical sectional view through the smoke collector fan, taken on line 9- 9 in Fig.- 10 Fig. 10 is a horizontal section of the same taken on line 10 I0 in Fig. 1-; Fig. 11 is an elevational view of the complete loooni-otive, showing the relative arrangement of the various parts; and Fig. 12 is a detailed view of an internal valve of the smoke col lector.

The locomotive 30 has cabs 31 and 32 at its front and rear ends, respectively. Cab 32 is mounted on the tend-er '26 and may be partitioned from the fuel chamber of the latter by an suitable means, such as by a partition 33. The fire box 6 of the locomotive is provided in a Sui-table space 34 and in front of the fire box is the main boiler 36 having fire flues 27 leech ing from the fire 'boX to the chamber 37, which in turn connects with a pesszige through the upper boiler 38 to the smoke stack 39. The smoke, gzises and Cinders will be diverted from; the smoke stack 39 bypassing the same from the chamber 37 through the pipe 5 into the fan chamber 7 of the turbine, from whence they are drawn by the fan 1 into the inner chant her 9 of the turbine 3, located at the front end of the boiler 36.

The conical rotor 40901 the-turbine 3 is hollow-cast of shell shape and is rigid 1y secured by a key or other means at its smaller diameter to the turbine shaft 2 b ineaiis of hub 41. The said rotor 40 bears on the thrust-balls 12 operating in ballrzice 43 and groove 44. Bell-race 43 is conveniently secured to edestal 45,

a nd the pedestal is bolted to cu 46 of the conical stetor or outer shell '47 of the turbine. Rotor compression blades 48 re helical in forinend'of'ztny desired pitch.

These blades are held against the highly ground surface of the shell 47 at 49 by means of fi'zit zigza -sprin 50 which are tempered to hold blades 48 in position against the said surface.

Fan 1 and plate 54; are suitably secured to the s'ha ft il. F an 1 is flied on the fan plate 54 and the latter is borne by conical rollers 55 ounted on the rites 56 or the cylinder 47 in airy con'inioii manner. Fan plate 54 has orifices 8 through 'xvhi'ch the smoke, Cinders, sparksand soot are drawn into the Chaih-ber 9. The 'eiihzius't steam from the driving cylinders 57 of the 1000- motive passes by Way of pipes 58 to the. box 59, and thence through pipe 4 to the turbine chl'inber 11. From chamber 11 the steam is admitted into chamber 9 through *as many valves 60 as will be found desirable. Valves 60 are opened by trip'pers 61. of the governor plate 53 striking against lever "62 when the said governor plate 5?, is lowered by the collapsing of the gov ernor balls 71 Whenever the speed of the governor is decreased. Lever 62 is tulcrui'ned and pinned to rotor 40 at 64 and the other {end of the lever is pivoted to the valve rod at 66. Valve rod 65 is pivoted to valve 60 at 67, the said valve being fulcrumed at 68 to the rotor 40 as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 12. Valve rod 5 preponderates in weight, tending to keep valve 60 closed.

The action of the governor 52 is the same as the common fly-ball governor; the arms 70 which carry the balls 71 being pivotally connected at 73 to the upper collar 72, which is fixed to the shaft 2. Links 74 connect arms 70 to the lower sliding collar 63. Governor plate fixed to sliding collar 63, which causes the former to be rotated at the same speed as shaft 2 and, when the centrifugal force of the re volving balls 71 becomes great enough, they fly outwardly and raise the lower sliding collar 63. The said collar being fixed to valve plate 53 causes trippers 61 to rise, permitting levers 62 to tilt because of the predominating weight of the rods 65, which rods are lowered and the valves thereby closed. Trippers 61 project from plate 55 so that levers 62 may be clear of plate Valve 69 is actuated in the same manner as valve 60, by the ascending and descending motion of the valve plate 53, as cletermined by the action of the governor 52. All gases, cinders, sparks and soot pass into chamber 9 through valve 60 and are condensed by the revolving and churning mo tion which takes place therein, to be subsequently discharged through valve 69 and further mixed with steam as it passes through exhaust pipe 12 of the turbine to be carried to the strainer or spark arrest-er 13, as hereinafter described. The object of the governor 52 is to regulate the suctionof the fan 1; when the speed of the fan increases, the valves 60 and 69 decrease the respective openings which they control, and when the speed of the fan decreases, the said openings are increased by the said valves, so that any increased suction of the fan 1 is compensated for by the increased resistance to the flow of smoke and gases through the valve 69 and of steam through the valve 60. The steam necessarily parts with some of its inherent kinetic energy when inpinging against the blades 48 to rotate the rotor, and the pressure of the steam, therefore, manifestly decreases in its downward passage through the turbine, the pressure at the valve 60 being greater than the pressure of the gases within the rotor, and the pressure of the steam at the valve 69 being less than the pressure of the gases within the rotor, whereby the said valves function as inlet and outlet valves respectively.

To prevent leakage of steam around shaft 2, an annular packing gasket 75 is held against the annular flange 76 of the rotor 40 by means of springs 77. Ballrace 78 is secured to cup 46, shaft 21 cvolving through both. Ball-race 79 is fixed on the truck support 80, and balls 81 roll in between races 78 and 79 in. the usual manner. The function of these balls 81 is to produce a minimum of friction at this point, as this is the pivotal center of the wheel truck 82. Bevel gearing 88 is used to drive the truck wheels 84, the said gearing, however, forming no part of the pres-- ent invention.

Pipe 12 contains the spark arrester 13 for stopping the cinders, etc. preparatory to their deposit through hopper 18 upon screw conveyor 19 which carries the cinders back to tire box 6. The cinders, stopped by the spark arrester 13 drop upon pad dles 15 of the elevator 16 and are carried up around wheel 88 and emptied into the chute 17 from whence they descend through hopper 18 into the conveyor 19 where they are mixed with fresh fuel and driven, by the rotation of screws 20, through flexible coupling 21 and telescoping pipes 22 and 23 and through nozzles 24 into fire box 6. Elevator 16 comprises upper pulley 88, lower pulley 89, and intermediate idler or tightening pulley 90, around which passes the belt 91 carrying paddles 15 which extend across the casing wall 92 during their ascent through the elevator casing. Upper pulley 88 is fixed to shaft 94.

The construction and operation of the invention will be plain from an inspection of Fig. 11. Steam passes from boiler 36 through the driving cylinders 57 into pipe 58, box 59, and pipe 4 to turbine 3, which drives the fan 1 and thus draws the smoke, cinders, and other products of combustion from fire box 6 through the fire tubes 27 chamber 37, and thence through the pipe 5 into chamber 9, as shown by dotted ar rows in Fig. 11. From the turbine 3 the steam, smoke, and gases pass through pipe 12 to the spark arrester 13 and elevator 16, where the sparks, cinders, and other solids are returned through hopper 18 to the screw conveyor 19, which returns them together with more fuel to the tire box 6 in the manner hereinbefore described. The steam from which the cinders, sparks, etc. have been separated passes out through the pipe 14 to drive the turbine 85 which pro pels the truck wheels 86 through suitable gearing, and the said wheels 86 in turn are connected through gearing 87 to operate the screw conveyor 20. The steam passes from turbine 85 for final disposition in a manner not forming a part of this invention.

By this arrangement, the objection of smoke escaping into the air is obviated; dangerous sparks are prevented from issuing into the atmosphere and causing accidents or fires; and cinders are returned as fuel to the conveyor 19, which conveyor is normally acting to drive into the telescoping pipes 22 and 23, and through noz- ZlGS 24: into the fire boX 6, the fuel that falls thereon through slots 25 in the tender 26, as will be understood from 7 of the drawings.

What is claimed is:

In a locomotive, the combination of a tire box, a turbine having a hollow conical rotor, steam pipes leading from the driving cylinders of the locomotive and arranged to direct steam against the said rotor for iniparting rotary motion thereto, an exhaust pipe leading from said turbine, a spark. arrester in said exhaust pipe, suction means located adjacent to the said turbine and actuated thereby, there being an opening between the said suction means and the interior of the said turbine, a conduit leading from the said fire box to the said suction means whereby sparks, cinders, smoke and other products of combustion are drawn into the interior of the said hollow rotor, the wall of the rotor having openings there through, valve for said openings; governoractuated means for controlling the open ing and closing of the said valves during the operation of the said turbine, and

means associated with the said exhaust pipe for removing the products of combustion, cinders, sparks or other solid particles therefrom, said means including a conveyor located adjacent the said spark arrester, a return conveyor leading back to the fire box, and means for effecting transfer of the said products, from the said first conveyor to the said return conveyor.

In testimony whereof I hereunto altiX my signature.

FREDERICK L. MCGAHAN. 

